This invention relates to a die for treating or conditioning an extrudate, and more particularly to a cascade die for sizing, cooling and smoothing an extrudate to provide pencils.
It is known to manufacture pencils continuously by extruding a sheathing composition over a marking core. The coextrusion leaves the extrusion head in a semi-plastic state. Before the extrudate can be coated with a lacquer or paint and cut into the desired lengths to form individual pencils, it has been found desirable to treat or condition the extrudate by cooling it to make it substantially rigid, to size it to obtain a uniform cross-section, and to smooth it to obtain a surface suitable for coating or painting.